Permutation lock for coin banks



G.A B. KEPLINGER. PERMUTATION LOCK FOR COIN BANKS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I3, 1921.

1,431,162. Patented 0% ma 1m swims-smul,

by 'f77/65565,'

G. B. KEPLINGEH.

PERMUTATION LOCK FOR COIN BANKS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I3, I92I.

Ll ,16% Patented Oct. i0, 1922a G. B. KEPLINGER.

PERMUTATION LOCK FOR COIN BANKS.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE I3, 192i.

Llg.

@wanted Get. w, 1922..

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

Patented Oct. 10, 1922.

STATES Leitz PA'rENr o FFic.

GEORGE B KEPLINCER, or CHICAGO,` ILLINOIS, AssICNon 'ro CRUVER MANUFAC-IURINGCOMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PERMUTATION LOCK FOR COIN BANKS.

Application led June 13, 1921. Serial No. 4775093.

To all 4whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I; GEORGE B. KEPLINGER; a citizen of the United States,and resident of Chicago; in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Permutation Locksfor Coin Banks; of which the following is a specification.

f My invention'relates to improvements in receptacles with removablecovers and has special reference to permutation locks for coin boxes andthe like.

The object of my invention is to provide a small coin bank which shallbe in the form of a shallow round box; which shall have one circular endwhich is removable and provided on its under side withI L-sliapedlocking lugs; which bank shall have a plurality of permutation tumblerrings arranged beneath an annular flange at the open end of the box; one`of the rotatable rings being provided with annular projections adaptedtorcontact with the cover and to serve as a guard for the other rings;in which the tumbler rings shall be made of thin sheet metal andprovided with edge anges to strengthen and stiffen them; in which theguard ring shall present a continuous smooth surface tothe co-ntents ofthe boX to avoid bunching of the coin or wear on' the contents by therotation thereof; and in which the several tumbler rings shall be heldincontact with the body iange by means 'of lugs or legs stuck upi fromthe bottom cover of theboX.

A particular feature of my invention relates to simple sh'eet metaltumbler rings adapted to set in substantially close contact with eachother and a guard ring covering the cover lugs and preventing the coinContacting therewith.

The box body is provided with an inner flange at its open end providedwith notches for the entrance of the cover lugs and `the tumbler ringsare located within this flange, while the guard ring is arranged beneaththis i'iange and is provided at its inner edge with an annular flangespaced from i the inner edge of the body flange and adapted to contactwith the cover just within the inner edge of the body flange to preventdistortionof the guard ring.

The cover is provided with a dial and the body is provided with apointer or index so thatthe amouut of rotation of the cover can bedetermined accurately and a particular featureV of my invention relatesto an eX- ceedmgly simple means which I have provided whereby I amenabled to producev a plurality of series of banks, each seriesconsisting of an almost endless number of banks; the combinations of allthe banks in each series shall have the same ratio but the several banksin each series shall have independent starting and combination numbersto open the banks. Furthermore, by the simple form of tumbler ringswhich I provide I am enabled to produce three or more series ofpermutation locks each series having a different ratio and each bank ofeach series having different sets of numbers though having the sameratio.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in whichFigure 1 is a view in edge elevation of a coin bank embodying myinvention;

Figure 2 is a vertical fragmentary sectional view on the. line 2 2 ofFigure l;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 3-'3 of Figure 7showing the several tumbler rings in the unlocking position;

Figure 4 is a similar sectional view showing the locking lug on thecover in the unlocking position;

Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3 showing the severalparts in locking relation;

Figures 6; 7, and 8 are horizontal sectional views on the lines 66;7--7, and 8-8; respectively of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view on the line 9 9 ofFigure 8;

Figures l0 and 1l are concentric'vertical similar to Figure 9 showing amodified form of tumbler and gua-rd rings; and

`Figure 19 is a fragmentary top plan view of the bank showing the meansand method of determining' the starting number of the openingcombination.

The coin bank which. I have chosen'to illustrate as a typical embodimentof my invention comprises a shallow circular box 1 closed at its lowerend by a fixed bottom 2 and at its upper end by a removable cover 3.'The cylindrical wall of the box is provided at one point with a suitablecoin slot 41- and I provide a coin slot guard 5 within the box forpreventing the removal of the inserted coin through the slot Ll-. I donot herein claim the particular form of coin slot guard illustrated,such being disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application filedApril 15, 1921, Serial No. 461,518.

The body of the box is provided with a flat inturned circumferentialflange 6 at its top or upper end, the inner edge of which is formeddownwardly to provide a circumferential inwardly projecting flange 7thus providing Aa large central opening 8 at the top ofthe box withinthe flange 7 for the removal of the contents after the cover 3 is takenoff. The formation of the flanges 6 and 7 provides an annular ring-likegroove or channel 9 just beneath the upper end of the casing in which Iarrange permutation or tumbler rings for locking the cover 3 to the box.

'lfhe cover is composed of an inner plate 10 which is substantially thediameter of the box and provided with three L-shaped lugs or projections11 which are adapted to be entered into notches 12 provided in the inneredge of the flange 6 andthroug'h the flange 7 and then to be rotatedbeneath the flange '7 and thereby lock the cover to the box. The coveris finished at its outer face by a second thin plate 13 which is adaptedto be cov-ered by a sheet of celluloid la or the lilte which can befinished in any color and scheme of ornamentation or lettering desired.The outer edge of the plate 13 is downturned to form an annular flange15 which is covered by the Celluloid covering and engages the outerperiphery of the box for centering the cover on the box. As best shownin Figure 4l, the Lshaped .lugs or projections are preferably stuck downout of the body of the plate 10 and the cover as a whole is arch shapefor stiffness and strength and to increase the capacity of the box.

lllithin the annular space 9, I provide two tumbler rings 16 and 17adapted to nest together within the annular ringlile space.

The ring 16 is provided at its inner )eriphery with three spaced notches19 and the ring 17 is provided at its inner periphery with similarnotches 19. In order that the or `inner edge of the flange cover lugs 11may pass through the notches 12 the notches 18 and 19 in the rings 16and 17 must register accurately with the notches 12 in the top of thebox. If either of the rings 1G and 17 are shifted around out of registrywith the notches 12, the lugs 11 cannot he taken out and the box remainslocked.

In permutation locks of this kind as heretofore made, it has beendifficult to produce the several members of the loclrs out of thin sheetmetal by the usual manufacturing processes and prevent the discovery, byone not familiar with the combination, of the position of the vtumblersby slowly rotating the cover and feelng for the notches. In a lockembodying this invention, such discovery is made impossible by thepeculiar form of the tumbler or permutation rings, as the rings areformed to presentin all positions except in the unlocking position,flanges which guard the notches 12 and effectually prevent the discoveryof the position of any of the notches by the sense of touch.

The tumbler ring 17 comprises a thin ring or band 2O as shown in Figure5 to fit within the flange 7 and extends from the inner surface of theflange 6 to the lower 7 and consequently when the notches 1&3 and 19 areout of registry with the notches 12 the lugs 11 cannot be pulledoutwardly into the notches 12 to feel them out. This ring 20 isreinforced at the notches 19 by arcuate segments 21, 22,y and 23 ofvarying arcuate lengths for a purpose to be explained.

rlhese segments extend outwardly at right angles to the ring 20 and areformed by first producing a continuous fla-t flange and then cuttingaway the portions of the flange between the ends of the segments toprovide spaces 24, 25, and 26 of different arcuate lengths between theirends thus providing for different series of permutations, as will appearlater. The segments extend outwardly from the upper edge of the ring 20and are adapted to lie flat against the inner or lower surface of theflange 6. The ends of the segments are bent downwardly as shown in 27and 28 to form stops which are adapted to be engaged by the ring 1Gwhich will be described later.

The ring 16 has a circumferential flange 29 at its outer edge adapted tolay against the inner cylindrical surface of the body of the box and itsupper edge 30 is adapted to contact with the inner or lower surface ofthe flange 6, and the arcuate segments 21, 22, and 23 are of radiallength to contact at their outer edges with the inner surface of theflange 29. The two rings thus operate to hold each other radiallybetween the flange 7 and the wall of the box. The inner edge of the ring18 is provided with an upturned flange 31 which is just high enough tocontact the under or lower sides of the arcuate segments as best shownin Figure 3, consequently the lugs 11 cannot pass up into the notches 19unless the"` tical tumbler ring of this kind out of very thin sheetmetal.

To hold the rings 16 and 17 up in their proper positions to contact with4flange 6, l provide a guard or protecting ring 32 which is `arrangedwithin the box and extends out-v wardly intol contact with the wall ofthe bor. its inner edge is formed circumferential flange '33, the 'upperedge 34 of which rises to a height where it contacts with the cover whenthe cover is in place." This flange is located within the circle of thelugs 11 and provides an annular space 35 just within the flange 7through which the` sh'anks 36 of the cover lugs can rotate. Iretain'this guard ring 32 in its proper position-by projections 39risingfrom the bottom of the boX just within the circumferential wall`of the box. I provide a plurality of these projections 39, preferablyfour thereof, and form them by blanking out a plate 38 for the bottomwith four radial projections 39` at its outer edge and thereafter bendthe projections to extend as described,:the` ring 32 resting upon theupper ends of the projections. I provide space within theguard ring andbelow the rings 16 and 17 `for the outwardly extending `portions of thecover lugs and for the interengaging stops or projections which l use tooperate the tumblers. Even though the guard ring ismade of relativelythin sheet metal, `its L-shape in cross-section makes it very stiff towithstand pressure from beneath andas the upper edge of the inner flangecontacts with the cover it forms a rigid guard to prevent pressure fromthe coin being received by` the thin tumbler rings whichyprovide.`Furthermore `as the cover lugs are entirely covered, they cannot engagethe coin and consequently the bunching or Yabrading of the coin orcontents is prevented. ,f

rlh'e guard ring 32-constitutes one -of the elements of the lockingscheme Vand is provided lwith a struck-up lug'll@ which projectsoutwardly from the base of the inner flange 33 into the path of thecover lugs 11, so that as the cover is rotated the `guard ring isrotated whenever one of the cover lugs contacts with the projection 40,lt will be understood of course that there is considerable lost ymotionbetween the guard ring and the cover upon reverse rotation of the coverprovided with an outwardlyV `to the Pre erably, for a purpose to beexplained,

means provided a range of due to the spacing of the cover lugs such lostmotion as usual constituting a feature of such combinations.

The O'uard ring is also providecjl with a second projection which isstuck up out of the outer edge of the ring and projects inwardly. rl`hissecond projection is preferably located substantially diainetricallyopposite to the projection Ll() and it is adapted to effect therotational engagement of the `guard ring with the tumbler ring 16 whichis provided with two cli-cumferentially spaced stuck up projections i2between which the projection 1 is arranged. rihe projections 42, as bestshown in ,Figure 11, are spaced apart to permit suitable lost motion ofthe guard ring back and forth between them.

For rotationally. connecting the ring 16 to the ring 17 l provide thering 16 with two upwardly extending projections 11:3 preterably arrangedsubstantially diametrically opposite to the projections 42 and adaptedto be arranged in one of the arcuate spaces 24, 25, or 26 of the ring 16and adapted to engage the down turned ends 27 and 28 of the arcuatesegments 21, 22, or 23 as the case may be. By arranging the projectionsl2 in the different arcuate spaces or by varying the spread of theprojections, it is obvious that the ratio ot the combinations arecianged.

The cove of the boi: constitutes suitable dia-l and is provided on itsedge with suitable division maris flwhich can be suitably numbered andthe body of the box is provided with an index. pointer t5 so that thecover can be turned back and forth known amounts 'to open the boxaccording known combination.

l provide one hundred of these division marks on the edge of the cover,and as the Celluloid covers are assembled on to the cover members in apromiscuous relation to the cover lugsg there is not a definite or1Known relation be tween the lugs and the dial but for any one lug thisrelation may vary from one to a hundred, and as the registration foropening the box must be within one-half of one of these spaces on thedial, l have by this ln assembling the several. tumbler rings in coopera'Je relation, i preferably pr ceed as follows: The ring 17 is firstplaced in position with one of the arcuate spaces, for instance thelonger one, adjacent to the coin slot and "ith its notches in registra`tion with the notches in the body. Then the ring 16 is placed in itsposition preferablywith its upturned projections placed in the widearcuate space 26 of the ring 17 and between the downward projections 27and 23 on the ring 17 at the ends of said space, and with its notches 18in register two hundred dif-- `'ferent coinlnnations for any series ofbanks.

with the notches 12 ot the body. The ring 16 has its two downturn-edprojections 4-2 positioned dia-metrically opposite to the coin slot andthe guard ring is placed in position with its projection L lil betweenthe two proj ections 4t2 on the ring 16. llhen the bottom ot the boi; isplaced in position, the projections 39 rising into contact. with theunder side ot the guard ring and it is thereby held in opera-tiveposition.

When assembled as describeil, the cover can be put on, the cover lugsbeing` entered through the several registered notches and upon turningthe cover in either direction, one of the cover lugs will engage thecontrol lug l0 on the guard ring. ris the rotation ot' the cover iscontinued the lug 11 ot the guard ring will engage one oit the lugs 4t2on the ring 16. Then as the rotation ot the cover is further continued,one ot the lugs al?) on the ring 'lo will engage one ot the lugs 2i' onthe ring '1T and each ring in turn will be carried out oit register withthe notches 12 and with the notches in the other ring therebyel'llectually closing the notches 12 against the re1noval-ot the coverlugs.

lt will be understood that the several rings must be held against treerotation so that their movements will be wholly under the control ot thecover and 'l'or this pur-- pose l so torni the rings lo and 1i that they'irictionally engage a relatively fixed sui` tace with suiiicient.'friction to prevent any but intended movement ot same. For this purposel make circiun'ferentia cuts 50 at at the outer edge ot the ringl 1Gtoriningi; circumterential tongues 51 in the tlange 29 which are adaptedto be sprung out snitiiciently to engage the wall oil' the casing or boxand yieldingly hold the ring against 'free rotation.

To hold the ring 17 l distort the ring member 2O between the arcuatesegments and thereby cause it to hug the downturned flange 7 on the boxn1n the manufacture oi the ring 17, this distortion ot the ring 2O iscaused by the production ot the arcuate spaces Q4, 25, and 2G which areproduced by cutting away the tlange between the arcuate segments 21, Q2,and Q25.

rlhis construction provides a very shallow assembled relation olf' thetumbler rings in a ring-like space, one oi" the rings 'lirictionallyengaging the cylindrical wall deiining the outer edge ot this space andthe other ring similarly engaging the cylindrical wall which delines theinner edge ot the space, and both rings being` held against longitudinalor axial movement between the ends ot the space by means ot the flange'5 at one end and the guard ring 32 at the other end.

ln Figure 1S l have illustrated a slight modification. in this torni,the guard ring 52 is similar in its shape and function to the guard ring32 already described except that it is made more` rigid by an outer upwardly extending annular 'flange 53 which lits within the casing, thetree edge ot this flange rises into contact with the under side ot theflange G when the tree edge ot the inner flange 54: ot the guard ring ispositioned to contact with the cover. The tumbler ring 16 lies withinthe tlange 53, in tact both permutation tumb-lers are bridged by thischannel shaped` guard ring and the pressure oi? the coin is thusabsoluten)7 prevented from reaching these thin rings which l provide,consequently the box can *always be opened by one knowing thecombination and the pressure ot the coin within the box does not atl'ectits operation. The guard ring 52 does not rotate like the guard ring butis fixed and consequently instead ot the cover lugs engaging with theguard ring and the guard ring with the ring 1G, in this term, the coverlugs engage directly with the ring 16. For this purpose, instead ot vtheprojections et@ on the guard ring 16, l

provide a projection 5st on the ring 16 in the path of the cover lugs.

its explained herein before, the relation ot the dials on the covers isnot a fixed relation and to avoid the necessity of making the coversindividual to the assembled tumblers and specifying the several numbersot the combination tor` each specific bank, l arrange a denite knownrelation between the notches 12 in the boi; and the cover lugs 11marking this relation on the dial surface in such a manner that theindication will mean nothing definite to one unfamiliar with the `fact.ln this manner I can assemble the covers and the banks and by knowingsimply the relations ot the several combination numbers, l can readilyopen any bank ot' the series.

For this purpose, l arrangean indicating mark 55 on the dial as bestshown in Figure 19 in a deiinite relation to the cover lugs 11 on theunder side ot the cover. l can place this mark or indication at such a.point that when it is placed in a delinite relation to the arrowindication e5, shown diagrammatica-lly in Figure 19, the cover lugs andthe notches 12 will be in register. By this means, l can establish astarting position or number tor the particular cover by which l canproceed to open the bank.

As many modiiications of my invention will readily suggest themselves toone skilled in the art, l do not limit or conlinemy invention to thespecific details of construction and operation herein shown anddescribed.

l claim:

1. ln a receptacle ot the kind described, a permutation lock includingrotatable tumblers arranged in contact with each other and a guard ringheld against endwise movement interposed `between the tumblers and theinterior ofthe receptacle to hold the vtumblers free of excessivepressure. i

of the bank, projections rising from said plate into Contact with theguard ring for rotatably supporting the guard ring in position, and acover having projections adaptl ed to beengaged with therotatablelocking rings for closing the bank.

3. In a coin bankof the kind described rotatable locking rings withinone end of the casing, a rotatable guard ring protecting the lockingringsV from the contents of the bank, a plate closing the opposite endof the bank, the plate formed of sheet metal and formed with radialprojections adapted to be bent up to extend through the bankto contactwith the guard ring for rotatably supporting the guard ring in position,and a removable cover adapted to cooperate with the locking rings forclosing the bank.

il. In a receptacle of the kind described, rotatable permutation ringsinade of thin sheet metal, the rings provided with notches at theirinner edges for permitting the in sertion of cover lugs, a guard ringcovering the permutation rings and having an innerannular flange spacedfrom the inner edge of the rings to form an annular channel for thecover lugs, a cover provided with L-shaped lugs for locking the cover onthe receptacle, and said flange on the guard ring adapted to contactwith the cover when the same is locked to the receptacle.

5. In a receptacle of the kind described, the receptacle provided with acircular opening defined by an inwardly projecting annular flangeforming a channel, thin sheet metal rings in the channel, a cover havingL-shaped locking projections, the flange and locking rings havingnotches Vto permit the insertion of the cover'lugs when the notches are`in registry, a rotatable guard ring within the receptacle covering thelocking rings, the guard ring having an inner circumferential flange forcontact with the cover and spaced inwardly from the flange on thereceptacle to form a protected channel for the cover lugs, the guardring presenting a substantially continuous and smooth surface to theinterior of the receptacle for contact with the contents thereof.

6. In a device of the kind described, two notched rotatable permutationrings nested in a circular channel-like space in the casing, the ringsformed of thin sheet metal, each ring contacting individually with thebot` tom of the channel and with the inner and outer circular wallsthereof, and each having yielding frictional engagement with one of saidcircular walls,1a guard ring closingv the mouth. of the channel andeachnotched ring having Contact 'with said guard ring, means supporting theguard ring rotatably in position, means rigidly spacing the outer vedgeof the guard ring from the bottoni of the channel, the inner edge oftheguard ring formed to extend out past the inner edge of the channelfor contact with a cover, as and for the purpose specified. i

7. A permutation lock for receptacles comprising a cylindricalreceptacle and removable cover therefor rotatable relatively to thebody, a plurality of l.shaned projec- "tions on the inner face ofthecover having theirl free end portions extending radially outwardly, an E-shaped inwardly 'extending flange at the mout-h of the receptaclehaving its free end portion opposing the receptacle body and providedwith radial recesses corresponding in number, size and relative locationwith the projections on the cover, the latter adapted to pass throughsaid recesses and engage the lower edge of the l.shaped flange when thecover is turned, a plurality of permutation lock elements mounted torotate in the channel of said L-shaped flange and having recessesadapted to register with each other and said recesses in said flange topermit mounting and removal of the cover, a rotatable guard ring beneaththe locking rings presenting a substantially continuous and smoothsurface to the interior of the receptacle, means for holdingthe lockelements in said channel and the guard ring against said elements, meansfor limiting the rotation of the locking rings relative to each other,and a projection on the guard ring adapted to be engaged by theprojections on the cover for effecting rotation thereof with said cover.

8. In a receptacle of the kind described, thin sheet metal permutationrings nested in a channel in one end of the receptacle, said end of thereceptacle having a central opening for the removal of the contents, are` movable cover adapted to close said opening, a guard ring within thereceptacle for guarding the permutation rings, the guard ring having acentral outwardly extending annular flange adapted to contact with thecover as and for the purpose specified.

9. In a receptacle of the kind described, one end thereof having arelatively large central opening for the removal of the contents, saidopening bordered by an annular inwardly extending flange, tumbler ringslwithin the receptacle having flanges substantially in contact with saidreceptacle flange, the free edges of all lof said flanges being in oneplane, all of said flanges provided with recesses, adapted to be broughtinto register to permit the passage of cover lugs and to be arranged outof register to prevent the passage of cover lugs.

10. In a receptacle of the kind described` a body portion having anopening at one end bordered by a flange, the iange provided withrecesses, a removable cover provided With lugs adapted to pass throughsaid recesses in applying or removing the cover, a dial at the edge. ofthe cover and an indicator on the body having a knoivnrelation to therecesses for determining the back and forth movement of the cover in theprocess of opening 'the receptacle, and an indicating mark on the dialhaving a known relation to the cover lugs for the purpose of indicatingwhen the lugs are in a predetermined position relatively to saidrecesses.

l1. ln a receptacle of the kind described, a body portion having anopening at one end bordered by a flange, the iange provided withrecesses, a removable cover provided with lugs adapted to passthroughsaid recesses in applying or removing the cover, a dial at theedge of the cover and an indicator on the body having a known relationto the recesses for determining the back and forth movement of the coverin the process of opening the receptacle,` and an indicating mark on thedial so placed that it is a known number oi'E divisions of the dialremoved irom the indicator on the body when the cover lugs are inregistry with said recesses.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 12th day of May, 1921.

GEORGE B. KEPLINGER.

